The F2P In-Game Economy

If you are spending $0 on a game, and the economy is working great for the company and the players who are paying money, but your favored currency is not retaining value well, that means the economy is working. “Working” applies both in the sense of in-game supply and demand (there is WAY more supply of the free currency than of the paid currency, and people with low time value are more prevalent than people with low money value) and the game’s business model. A business model that rewards “not paying” as much as or more than “paying” will not be a business model for long.

Just because you do not like something does not mean it is not working.

: Zubon

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5 thoughts on “The F2P In-Game Economy”

GW2 is rewarding me ridiculously well for paying nothing. I have yet to spend a cent more than the cost of the two boxes I bought at the tail end of last summer, I’ve clocked up well in excess of 2000 hours played and I’ve logged in just about every day since last August unless I was out of the country on vacation.

The in-game economy works superbly for me as a non-payer. I have over 100 gold in cash stashed and probably double or treble that in assets like Orichalcum and Ectoplasm. Almost everything I want or need to buy costs me silver, not gold, on the TP or from NPC vendors. I think the most I’ve payed for any single item ever was a couple of gold.

I want for nothing, I’m having a great time and it isn’t costing me a penny. I’d be more thn happy to give ANet some more of my money but they have set things up so that there’s nothing they’re selling that I need, little that I want and they give me everything I could ask for for free. Right now about the only way they are likely to make any money off me is if they decide on an expansion or if I decide to buy a third account.

If you don’t need or desire any of the things available in the gems store, then you’re sussed and I don’t think anyone would object – your regular presence is a benefit for ArenaNet anyway. For myself, I haven’t bought gems apart from getting the extra character slots I wanted early on, but I am happy to put in a little real world money if something I like turns up and I’m able to treat myself. I think ArenaNet is walking a delicate line (and occasionally, they slip, but they’re getting better) – one where you should never NEED to buy gems, but should be fairly amenable to buying them in part because it feels like an indulgence for yourself, not something the game pressures you into.

In my experience there are few things gamers react worse to than a company who seem to prioritise making more money out of (often already fee-paying) players over making the game more fun or easier to play.